Spain - Race
Saturday's qualifying was a battle held between the two McLarens. In the end, it was Oscar Piastri who came out on top and was set to begin the Grand Prix from the best position possible. While he celebrated his success, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll found himself on the opposite end of the spectrum. He had to withdraw from the race due to issues with his wrist. Only 19 drivers lined up on the grid. Or rather, 18 lined up on the grid and one, Yuki Tsunoda, waited at the end of the pit lane.
No hard tires could be found on the starting grid. With that compound known not to work too well on the Catalan circuit, no driver decided to include it in their strategy, at least at the beginning of the race. Everyone, save for Tsunoda, bolted on the red softs. The Red Bull driver opted to start on mediums.
Piastri had a good launch off the line and managed to keep his lead. The same couldn't be said for his teammate, Lando Norris. The British driver was overtaken by Max Verstappen and continued the race in P3. Behind the top three, the two Ferraris gained positions at the cost of the Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli went off track, allowing Charles Leclerc to move past him. At the same time, Lewis Hamilton overtook George Russell for P4. Soon after, Leclerc also found a way past the Brit, and the two Ferraris were, as they seem to be in every race this season, side by side.
These weren't the only notable changes in order that took place over the course of the first few laps. The breakout star of the midfield was, without a doubt, Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, who managed to make up five positions and found himself in an impressive P10. However, his great moves were not without their consequences. As he was moving past Alex Albon, Hulkenberg's car made contact with the Williams' front wing, damaging it enough for Albon to be called into the pits, having completed only seven laps.
With Leclerc and Hamilton side by side, some discussions over the radio were bound to shake up the race. The Monegasque, significantly quicker than his teammate, was quick to request a switch in position. The move was ordered on lap nine and took place on lap 10.
Meanwhile, at the front, Lando was chasing Verstappen for the position he had started the race in. He managed to catch up to his rival on lap 13. Having been overtaken, Verstappen peeled into the pit lane for the first planned stop of his three-stop strategy. He rejoined the race in P8, sandwiched between the two RB cars.
Hamilton was the second top car to visit the pit lane. He did so on lap 17, and the stop pushed him to P9. His teammate followed his lead a lap later. He rejoined the race in P7. After a stop of his own, Russell stayed behind Hamilton.
The early-stop strategy seemed to have paid off for Verstappen. After Norris changed his tires for the first time, he came out behind the Red Bull. When Piastri did the same thing a lap later, he also ended up behind the Dutchman. This made Verstappen a temporary race leader. At least until lap 30, during which he drove in for his second stop and fell all the way to P4, finding a space for himself between the two Ferraris.
Albon's race had been compromised from the very start, and it only went from bad to worse when he began fighting for position with RB's Liam Lawson. The two made contact as they tried to stay ahead, and the Williams' front wing was damaged for the second time in the race. "Box to retire the car" was the message he heard over the radio. But as he made his way towards the pit lane, race control announced that he'd been given a ten-second penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage. He drove to the garages, served the penalty, and went out for one last lap. Then he retired the car for good.
On lap 36, after Verstappen managed to overtake Leclerc, the order of the top ten was as follows: Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Antonelli, Hadjar, Hulkenberg, and Lawson. There was a possibility that it wouldn't stay that way for long: tired of finishing the race second, Norris was slowly but surely catching up to his teammate. Before he could attempt a move, Leclerc began the second wave of top car pit stops, as he changed his tires on lap 41. Russell and Hamilton both quickly followed. This time, it was the Mercedes driver who came out on top. Verstappen pitted for the third time on lap 48. He kept his position in front of Leclerc. The two McLarens pitted soon after, both managing not to lose anything in the process.
Just when it seemed like the only thing to look out for in the final laps would be the fight between Piastri, Norris, and Verstappen, all of whom found themselves within only a few seconds of each other, a final twist changed the Spanish afternoon. Antonelli's power unit failed, and the young driver was forced to retire his car. With no power being supplied to his Mercedes, he was forced to leave it on the side of the track. A safety car was called in as the marshals worked to remove it.
All top cars used this moment to change their tires one last time. Since they all visited the pit lane, no change in order was seen. This didn't mean that the accident hadn't drastically changed the situation of some drivers. For one thing, with the cars forced to go much slower than they normally would have, the playing field was completely leveled. For another, Verstappen, having run out of other compounds, was forced to bolt on a set of hards, which were sure to become an issue on restart.
The safety car dove into the pits at the end of lap 60. As soon as racing was resumed, Verstappen began sliding on his cold hards, giving Leclerc the perfect opportunity to move past him and into a podium-scoring position. This wasn't the end of the Dutchman's issues. Russell had also managed to catch up, and the two cars made contact as he tried to overtake the Red Bull. Verstappen went off track after the incident.
Soon after, he was told to give Russell the position as his team believed that he could be handed a penalty for gaining an advantage off track. Verstappen wasn't too happy with the decision, and he made it known through the radio. Still, it seemed like he conceded and began giving the position to Russell. That was until the two cars made contact once more as the Mercedes tried to move through. He did end up overtaking Verstappen on the penultimate lap of the race, and the Red Bull driver was given a penalty for causing the collision. This pushed him from P5, all the way to P10.
As Verstappen cursed over the radio, Piastri saw the checkered flag, this time waved by the Polish football star, Robert Lewandowski. His teammate followed soon after, and Leclerc took the last available podium position. Positions worth noting were Hulkenberg's incredibly impressive P5 and Hadjar's incredible P7.
Order of the grid:
1. Oscar Piastri
2. Lando Norris
3. Charles Leclerc
4. George Russell
5. Nico Hulkenberg
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Isack Hadjar
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Max Berstappen
11. Liam Lawson
12. Gabriel Bortoleto
13. Yuki Tsunoda
14. Carlos Sainz
15. Franco Colapinto
16. Esteban Ocon
17. Oliver Bearman
DNF: Kimi Antonelli, Alex Albon
DNS: Lance Stroll
Comments
Post a Comment